Sunday, February 24, 2013

this is really happening - wrigley part 1

As you read part one about Wrigley's story keep in mind that we had no intentions of getting a dog.

Two hard working athletic trainers, early in our careers, we don't have a lot of extra time. Last winter and spring when we'd have a little time to drive around Lynchburg, we'd hit a couple of shopping errand with visiting pet shops to see the animals. There are three pet shops: Petopia, Pet & Aquatic Warehouse and PetSmart. Our favorite was Pet & Aquatic Warehouse on Wards Rd because they have a huge selection of saltwater and freshwater fish, plus lots of puppies, bunnies, and kittens! Our rule is that we won't ever ask to hold a puppy, which we never did!

After a few trips over several months, we'd narrowed down what type of dog that would fit us as our first dog... some sort of poodle mix that was smaller and hypoallergenic, but we were not getting a dog anytime soon.

In April, our friends asked us to babysit their 11-week-old cockapoo puppy! Since Ryan was working, I ended up hanging out with about 7 pounds of cute, fluffy, floppy, bundle of joy for the day while Ryan stayed with her overnight. They have a crazy story about getting their puppy, involving craigslist and a scary area of Lynchburg... the bottom line is craigslist for cute puppies..? What a great way to save money (compared to $500-600 at a pet store or $800-1500 from a breeder). Still, with NO plans of getting a puppy for at least a couple of years, I began inquiring on craigslist for cute puppies.

On a Thursday, while eating lunch, I saw an ad for an "adorable puppy" with a picture of a puppy who could barely stand. There was a picture of it's mom (black & tan cocker spaniel) and it's dad, (a white medium sized poodle). Within minutes, and I mean minutes, I had texted Ryan... "Guess what I found on craigslist, what do I do...?" and had replied to the email, "Will you take $200? Male or female? When can I pick him/her up?" Ryan was by his phone and responded, "Why not? Let's go for it." Wait what? This morning we had no plans of getting a puppy. By 3:00, I had a email confirming... the puppy was ours. W H A T ?

As a side hiccup, that I don't want to forget, at 3:30 or so, I called the lady to set up a time to pick up the puppy. When she answered, she told me, "Sorry, there's someone on the way to get her right now, I'm taking the ad down because I'm getting so many inquires and she's already taken." I got really sad and couldn't find the ad on craigslist anymore. I thought what she'd said was true.

About 10 minutes later, she called me to apologize. When I called, she didn't know who I was, so she thought I was someone else inquiring. Since I was the first to respond to the ad, (I literally must have seen the ad seconds after she posted it), the puppy was mine! "And when are you going to come pick her up?" ....I texted Ryan... the puppy is ours, we need to go get puppy supplies tonight and pick her up at 8:00 tomorrow morning. This is really happening.